by Ellen Seidler | Ad Sponsored Piracy, Copyright, Google, Politics
This month marks the five-year anniversary of my first blog post about online piracy and its link to advertising profits. At the time I was pissed. The movie Megan Siler and I had spent three years creating had just been released, and within 24 hours, had found its way online as an illegal download. One illegal copy quickly morphed into many tens of thousands.
What made me angry wasn’t necessarily the fact the film had been pirated. Though certainly I wasn’t pleased, it wasn’t really a shock. I knew in the back of my mind that piracy was an issue. However, I’d never really examined it up close. When I did, I was surprised not only by the how–but by the why. Online piracy was, in fact, an insidious for-profit business cloaked behind a curtain labeled “sharing.”
Online piracy is driven by profit
It turns out our film–like thousands of others, studio and indie–was just click-bait for a flourishing online market driven by greed. The breadth and scope of this illicit online marketplace was shocking. Examining a wide range of pirate websites I discovered an insidious, profitable and widespread economy driven–in large measure–through the complicity of major American corporations.
Sure, some of the major players were well-known thieves like Kim Dotcom whose Megaupload business empire was built on content theft. But many others cashing in on the online feeding frenzy were (and still are) mainstream corporations like Google. Ad service providers and major brand advertisers were (and still are) incentivizing and sustaining online piracy as a profitable venture. It was true five years ago and unfortunately it remains true today. Legit companies supply the blood that feeds the beast.
My original blog at popuppirates.com
I didn’t begin blogging about online piracy for the sake of our film. That’s old news. The reason I’ve continued to spend the past five years investigating and writing about online piracy and copyright issues is because I don’t believe what’s happening to our creative community is fair. I write because I worry about the future of those who earn their living by creating the content we so enjoy. I write because online pirates continue to rip-off creators at every opportunity in order to make a buck.
I also write because worry that online piracy diminishes the diversity of content that’s produced. After all, we won’t know what we’re missing when it isn’t made. Creative voices on the fringes, the most fragile among us, are often the first to go, and it’s often a silent exit. Piracy apologists who believe it’s their right to take what they want– when they want–routinely belittle creators who dare speak out against such theft. For those defending piracy it seems easier to denigrate and devalue artists rather to hear them.
When I recently sent a DMCA notice to the Chilling Effects database to highlight the hypocrisy of Google’s message that it “fights piracy” my move was met with predictable derision. Few on the copyleft seemed to understand that it really wasn’t about me, or our film. The same scenario happens day after day to all types of creators who send takedown notices to Google. I used our film as an example (because I could) in order to make a point about how Google (and Chilling Effects) conduct business–removing links, but replacing the original link with another link back to a page featuring the original link. It’s a duplicitous shell game that mocks the very intent of the DMCA.
“I figured you are stupid Gay”
One blogger was so bent out of shape by my takedown notice to Chilling Effects he wrote his own post. He sent me a series of messages via my Vox Indie Facebook page and attempted to point out the futility of my anti-piracy efforts. Apparently crabbed when I didn’t respond, in a fit of pique, he resorted to childish name-calling:
A screencap showing partial excerpt of a blogger’s FB messages to me.
So much for thoughtful discourse eh? For the record, I am “Gay.” As for stupid, well, that “blogger” certainly thinks so. It would appear he has a problem with stupid Gays who dare to speak out in defense of creators. For the record I didn’t bother to read his blog post which–given the tone of his messages–was probably not particularly friendly, nor thoughtful.
That particular blogger was not the only one to mock my attempt to highlight Google’s DMCA shell game; though I must say I’ve not really experienced the homophobic angle before. TechDirt, a site well known for its not-so-friendly views on copyright, also recently posted a harangue about my DMCA notice to Chilling Effects. That piece featured the subheading “from the stupidity-in-Russian-doll-form dept” so it would seem that the word “stupid,” in various forms, is a popular term for frustrated anti-piracy apologists to use when writing rebuttals. I imagine their dependence on the word is merely a further sign they have no cogent argument at the ready.
As the saying goes, “sticks and stones…” However, the upside is that my efforts to bring attention to the damage done by online piracy are clearly having the desired effect.
LGBT Filmmakers are among those whose voices are diminished by online piracy
Pirates sites around the world stealing LGBT films
I should also point out that LGBT filmmakers regularly send me emails asking what they can do to protect their films from online piracy. Some of them have spent years trying to bring their vision to the big screen and when they see their newly released film showing up as downloads and streams on pirate sites across the globe they are crushed. I wrote a piece about this some time ago, but it’s worth reminding audiences that these are some of the independent voices that are damaged when we allow online theft to flourish.
How can we change the status quo? We speak out. The good news is that we are. Artists across the spectrum have begun to focus frustration into action. We’ve begun to speak out and formed coalitions, demanding with one voice that our representatives in Washington take action to better safeguard creative work (and livelihoods) in the digital age. Whether it’s by re-tweeting for the #IRespectMusic campaign or joining the new Content Creators Coalition, as WE come together, WE will make progress–of that I am sure.
I didn’t make a film in order to become an “anti-piracy” activist. I made a film with my (also gay) filmmaker friend Megan Siler because we had a creative idea we wanted to share with lesbian audiences. However, once our film was released, and subjected to the online piracy pulverizer, this particular stupid Gay couldn’t look the other way. It opened my eyes to what was happening across the board to content creators of all stripes–and it wasn’t OK.
Hopefully, over these past years, through my research and subsequent blog posts, I’ve helped frame the debate over piracy in a way that exposes criminal nature of online piracy and motivates others to acknowledge it’s a problem in search of a solution. I also hope readers can better appreciate the long-term value of safeguarding our creative communities large and small.
Here’s to the next five years and hoping creators continue to make progress against the scourge of online piracy…I may be stupid, but I’m also stubborn. 🙂
by Ellen Seidler | Copyright, Film, Law, Piracy, Tech
PayPal has finally ceased doing business with Kim Dotcom’s Mega site and he’s pouting about it. The man who has made millions be monetizing content stolen from others continues to assert that Mega is a legit cloud-based service and that its operations are legal. A statement posted on the site announcing that, “PayPal has ceased processing MEGA customer payments effective immediately…” also makes the claim that the cyberlocker site is being unfairly targeted:
MEGA has demonstrated that it is as compliant with its legal obligations as USA cloud storage services operated by Google, Microsoft, Apple, Dropbox, Box, Spideroak etc, but PayPal has advised that MEGA’s “unique encryption model” presents an insurmountable difficulty. The encryption models claimed by various USA and other entities apparently do not represent any problem to PayPal or the parties behind PayPal.
Nice try but even if you dress a wolf in sheep’s clothing he’s still just a wolf. It’s important to note that Mega rose from the ashes of Megaupload, the granddaddy of cyberlockers where the piracy for profit model was perfected and later copied by dozens of other online entrepreneurial thieves. 
After the feds shut the site down in January of 2012, Dotcom got busy working a better way to circumvent copyright law and a year later launched a more nefarious piracy for profit site named Mega. The site uses encryption technology to protect its users (and site operators) from prying eyes. Dotcom claims Mega is full of folks’ baby pictures and the like, but in reality its business model continues to provide pirates with a profitable, and protected, haven for their transactions.
Until PayPal’s recent departure, officials at Mega even pointed to the relationship with the payment processor as a sign that Mega was “legit.” In response to charges in a study published last September by NetNames and the Digital Citizens Alliance, Mega CEO Graham Gaylard told TorrentFreak:
“We consider the report grossly untrue and highly defamatory of Mega…Mega has been accepted by PayPal because we were able to show that we are a legitimate cloud storage site. Mega has a productive and respected relationship with PayPal, demonstrating the validity of Mega’s business…”
For the past few years payment processors like Visa, Mastercard and PayPal have come under increasing scrutiny for their role in facilitating (and profiting from) pirate-linked transactions. Following publication of the NetNames study, Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time, sent letters to the head of both Mastercard and Visa urging that the companies sever ties with piracy operations.
I’ve been reporting on this issue since 2010, and while some progress has been made as processors have severed ties with many of the worst offenders, much work remains. According to the study, PayPal was singled out for its business dealings with Dotcom:
PayPal was offered as payment option on only one site (Mega). This represents a major change in the cyberlocker universe compared to just three years ago. The fact that the vast majority of cyberlocker sites do not attempt to take PayPal through hidden or disguised means demonstrates that the payment method is not even considered as an option for accepting subscription payments.
Dropvideo still depends on PayPal
Apparently PayPal officials finally decided that doing business with Mega was no longer an option. Unfortunately, aside from Mega, PayPal’s involvement with pirate sites persists and extends beyond offering subscribers a way to pay for services.
PayPal remains an important cog in the the flow of money that’s central to the business model Dotcom perfected on Megaupload. It was essentially a pyramid scheme as I explained in this blog post from 2011. Basically, cyberlocker affiliates provide the fuel that drive the piracy machine. Individuals sign who up to be cyberlocker affiliates earn money for uploading (stolen) content based on the number of times a file was downloaded. They can also earn commissions for attracting other to enroll in various cyberlocker account offerings. Affiliate payments continue to be the lifeblood that sustain the cyberlocker eco-system and PayPal continues a popular means for affiliates to receive payment for their role in bringing traffic to sites. According to the NetNames report:
…PayPal is still used by some sites for affiliate or reward scheme payments. Of the thirteen sites that offered an affiliate scheme, eight (61.5 percent) offered PayPal as a way for affiliates to receive their payments (other online payment systems such as WebMoney and Payza were also used but PayPal was the most popular).
This morning I took a quick look at Dropvideo.com, a cyberlocker I’d recently sent DMCA notices to. Sure enough, they use PayPal for their affiliate payments. So while PayPal has distanced itself from Mega, the company still has a long way to go to clean up its dirty piracy profits.
by Ellen Seidler | Copyright, Film, Piracy, Tech
Piracy promoted by Facebook and featuring ads served by U.S. based “Ad Council” for a U.S. government agency that’s supposed to protect American consumers
The 6th chapter of the popular movie franchise “The Fast and Furious“ premiered nationwide yesterday, and has already set new Memorial Day weekend box office records. This morning–less than 24 hours later– thanks to a Facebook, a link for a pirated version appeared on my computer screen.
I came across this particular link while having my wake-up coffee and checking my Facebook news feed. I’ll admit to having “liked” this Facebook movie page in the past so I could, in fact, monitor and research ongoing pirate activity.
The film’s speedy arrival onto pirate websites (and shared via a social media site like Facebook) is neither unexpected, nor surprising. I’m sure there are already thousands of pirated copies posted online throughout the globe, and dozens more shared via Facebook pages like this one. I’ve already written about this particular Facebook movie page, and others like it that promote illegal downloads. The reason I’m choosing to revisit it is because today’s scenario, with link appearing in my news feed, demonstrates once again how piracy theft is routinely enabled–and made increasingly efficient–by companies like Facebook.
Today, when I saw this post, I followed the link to the website to check it out. I found 2 working streams of the movie, one via the Russian site VK.com, a social media portal styled after Facebook. The online offering is riddled with advertising (including a pop-up from the United Way) but nonetheless, after clicking through the ads, there’s the film, in its entirety, streaming online. Granted, the copy was likely shot surreptitiously in a theater, but the quality is decent enough. The others “embeds” are actually decoys, carefully designed to mimic working streams in order to trick visitors into clicking, thus triggering a pop-up ad and generating more income for the site.
Ironically, one of the ads that popped up was for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency of the United States government, and another for the Shelter Pet Project. Both ads are apparently placed with the ad servicer by the Ad Council. On its website the organization describes its mission this way:
The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization that marshals volunteer talent from the advertising and communications industries, the facilities of the media, and the resources of the business and non-profit communities to deliver critical messages to the American public.
Irony aside, the Ad Council’s involvement–and its servicing an ad for an official bureau of United States government (that’s supposed to protect American consumers)–demonstrates just how broken our system is. Were this criminal activity happening in the brick and mortar world I doubt it would be tolerated, at least not by U.S. law enforcement.
I am sure no one at the Consumer Protection Bureau is even aware that their ads blanket pirate websites, but therein lies the problem. Why not? Why are federal dollars being spent for advertisements on sites that offer up stolen goods? When did it become OK for advertisers, whether the U.S. government or not, to underwrite online theft? Just because the crime happens online, is it really OK that our tax dollars end up in the pockets of pirates? How is that the online economy is somehow exempt from legal scrutiny? Is this really the kind of “innovation” we want to encourage and protect?
Advertisements aside, another question should be asked of Facebook. Why should the Silicon Valley behemoth be allowed earn money off the promotion of stolen goods? The company is vigilant when it comes to removing photos of breast feeding mothers, but when it comes to removing pages dedicated to disseminating stolen goods, not so much?
Ads sponsored by the U.S. based Ad Council blanket this pirate website
As Congress moves forward to discuss copyright reform members may want to finally peek under this rock and take a look at what can be done to hold accountable those who–directly or indirectly–aid and abet online theft. Facebook….Ad Council….Uncle Sam….are you listening??? Looking the other way in response to ad sponsored piracy is not OK. Creative content, whether it be a Hollywood blockbuster like “The Fast and Furious” or an indie band’s latest release, should not be there for the taking by piracy profiteers.
The time for action and accountability is long overdue. The government, ad servers, and the entities that advertise on these pirate websites need to step up, admit we have a big problem, and deal with it.
by Ellen Seidler | Copyright, Film, Piracy, Tech
Over the past months, as I’ve journeyed across the web investigating pirate websites I found that many shared something in common (besides stealing content to profit off the work of others). Along with illegal downloads to popular movies, often times the sites deliver pop-up ads for MacKeeper software, a product of Silicon Valley based Zeobit.
Ads and piracy go hand in hand. It’s how pirate sites make money. Ads appearing on such sites run the gamut from Progressive Car Insurance to online sex chat, but more often that not it seems, I’m greeted by an advertisement for MacKeeper.
MacKeeper ad pops up on an illegal download.
Had these ads been an isolated incident, it wouldn’t bother me. Unfortunately as far as MacKeeper goes, it’s not limited to an ad or two here and there. In fact, if you were to asking me the most common advertisement that pops up to fill my computer screen via pirate downloads, it’s MacKeeper. Below are just a few examples that I’ve recently come across after clicking an illegal download link that I was investigating.
MacKeeper’s advertising methods have generated controversy in the past, not because of the fact the company seems happy to partner with pirates, but because of their ubiquity. According to a story published on Cult of Mac, the software itself isn’t particularly popular among Mac aficionados for this reason. The company’s PR director Jeremiah Fowler explained their approach to advertising to the Cult of Mac’s Leander Kahney this way:
Legitimate Mac Users who are annoyed or tired of our advertising campaigns or partner’s campaigns. Do we advertise? Yes! Do we advertise aggressively, I would not like to use that term but we do have a massive advertising presence online! [emphasis added] We have had 15,000,000 downloads of MacKeeper and have a less than 3% refund rate. The reality is that many people are truly happy with the product even if they hate the advertising (and unfortunately some do). The bad part is some people take their hatred for advertising to a level where they dedicate hours of their lives to making MacKeeper a “Forum Punching Bag”… In a perfect world there would be no advertisements on radio, TV, billboards or the internet, but this is not a reality. As long as there are ads, there will be people who hate them.
We believe that we have a great product and we want people to know about it and the only way to do this is to explore every medium of advertisement. [emphasis added] It is like investing everything in to a great restaurant and hiring the best chefs, buying the best food only to hide the location somewhere in the woods and then tell no one about it. Then wondering why no one comes to your restaurant? We are discussing phasing out our ads and trying to please the vocal minority, but we realize that pleasing everyone is impossible.
It’s not the ads or the product that I mind, it’s where their ads appear. Given the fact the MacKeeper ads pop-up more often than not on pirate downloads, I think it’s safe to generalize and say they must send a great deal of money the pirates way. As Mr. Fowler made clear in his conversation with Cult of Mac, the company views its advertising methods as good business. Never mind, it seems, who they are doing business with.
I attempted to reac Zeobit for comment, but as is usually the case with Silicon Valley tech companies, transparency is not part of their business plan. (Updated 4-24-13 in blue) Following the publication of this blog post, I did actually receive an email from Jeremiah Fowler (quoted above). His response included the following:
As you know we are a software company and illegal software pirating is one of the biggest threats to our livelihood and that of our entire industry. Software is vulnerable in the very same ways that an artist or musician would be impacted. It is a fact that when no one buys a movie, album or software application, there will be no money to invest in future projects or research and development. You can quote me when I say In straight terms “we do not support illegal downloading and we think that it sucks”.
These pirate websites are actually partnered with major Ad Networks and Media Buying Agencies and not MacKeeper. We purchase only impressions or click units and the Ad / Media companies dictate on what websites where they will appear and how often they appear on millions of basically nameless websites across their network. The only reason you personally see so many of our ads is because we buy ads that target only your operating system and nothing more. These guys can only filter ads between Mac or PC and very little else. We advertise on a relatively large scale with the biggest networks to make sure that people actually do buy our software and we do not partner with these sites where people will not buy anything anyway because the whole reason they are on that particular site is to steal. It is a total waste of money for our ads to even be displayed on these channels, but that is also why you see ads for insurance and other random things because these companies just have millions of sites in their network and throw ads based on purchased space or clicks. The flaw is in the terms and conditions of what type of sites these ad networks will allow for the delivery or their customer’s ads. As far as being against illegal downloading we are actually on the same team.
While I understand full well that MacKeeper is a software company and that software is as vulnerable to piracy as are other forms of digital content, I find little satisfaction in his explanation as to why the ads so often pop-up on pirate websites. I in fact do use a Mac and ironically actually OWN the MacKeeper software. I’m well aware that today’s browsers can identify one’s operating system (as well as one’s web history), otherwise it’s likely I would see ads for their PC product.
However, the fact that browsers are smart and “Ad Networks and Media Buying Agencies” partner with these sites, does not absolve Zeobit (or any advertiser) from responsibility in when it comes to the issue of brand-supported piracy. It’s easy to blame the messenger, but why aren’t these companies demanding more oversight on behalf of ad servers? Certainly Zeobit is not the first company to employ the “we can’t control where our ads appear” excuse. I’m asking why not?
As I told Mr. Fowler in my response to him, when companies advertise in print publications, they are acutely aware of where their ads are placed and what editorial content appears next to them. When it comes to the internet, however, these same companies seem content to participate in an online free-for-all where the goal of saturating web visitors with ads for their products–no matter what site the ads are linked to. I must point out one obvious exception to this–somehow these ad servers do avoid porn sites, so their must be some vetting/filtering going on at some level. Why can’t this happen for sites that are engaged in promoting (illegal) downloading? If companies that pay for advertising are against online piracy, why not withhold their business from ad servers that do “partner” with such sites?
Ironically, the company touts its belief in “social responsibility” on its website’s front page. It seems that their view of “social responsibility” does not extend to creator’s rights. It’s shameful that the company doesn’t take action to prevent their ads from subsidizing what is, essentially, illegal activity.
For the record, Zeobit receives an A- on the Better Business Bureau’s review website. From my perspective, the company should receive an F when it comes advertising accountability. Per usual, profits trump ethics.
by Ellen Seidler | Copyright, Film, Piracy, Tech
As the Annenberg Innovation Lab releases its February “Ad Transparency Report” on major brands link to advertising on pirates sites it’s also worth taking a look (again) at yet another recent example as to how Google–along with Netflix in this case–continues to incentivize, and monetize, online piracy.
Google-hosted site features ads for Netflix and active (free) download links for a popular movie.
This is a Google-hosted website (via their Blogger platform) that features (as of yesterday) active download links to the Hollywood hit “The Dark Knight Rises.” Note the (Google-served) advertising to the right. At the top of the list is an ad for Netflix. Now, I’ve asked this before and I’ll ask it again….Why go to Netflix and pay to watch the movie when you can click a download link and watch it for free?
Remember, Google is earning money, Netflix is gaining customers (earning money) and the Blogger pirate is earning money. The film’s distributor, Warner Brothers, earns nothing. Sure, the studio is part of “big” Hollywood, but please remember–big Hollywood employs hundreds of thousands of “little” people who toil behind the scenes. These grips, gaffers, caterers, drivers, makeup artists, script supervisors, carpenters, etc. depend on these Hollywood-generated jobs to put food on the table. This is not a victimless crime.
There is no reason on earth that Google (and Netflix) can’t do a better job vetting websites where their advertising appears. Profits for both are soaring. Rather than hire additional staff to deal with these issues, it appears both companies are happy with apparently profitable, yet shameful, status quo. 
- Profits for Google and Netflix are robust.
Despite lip-service to the contrary, neither company seems willing to take voluntary action for fear that it could impact their bottom line. So what’s left? As Dennis Kneale of Fox Business wrote in his piece today:
The report deploys a new weapon in the assault on online piracy: public shame. The USC Annenberg lab’s director, Jonathan Taplin, hopes that publicly identifying the offending ad-nets will persuade them to block pirate sites entirely.
Ad supported piracy is nothing new, but finally the public is starting to pay attention. Shame on Google and shame on Netflix and all the other established companies that continue to look the other way.
This month marks the five-year anniversary of my first blog post about online piracy and its link to advertising profits. At the time I was pissed. The movie Megan Siler and I had spent three years creating had just been released, and within 24 hours, had found its way online as an illegal download. One illegal copy quickly morphed into many tens of thousands.
